External fixation devices have been commonly used for various treatments of bone conditions. Such bone conditions include leg lengthening, osteotomies, arthrodesis, open fracture fixations, compound fracture fixations, and other bone conditions amenable to treatment by use of an external fixation assembly. For example, external fixation devices are typically used in treatment of bones when frequent wound care is necessary to treat an open wound or a surgical site within an extremity.
Although current external fixation devices are often adequate, many external fixation devices are relatively large, include numerous components, are complicated to use, difficult to adjust, and involve challenging postoperative care and use. For example, current external fixation devices involve relatively large and numerous components, creating operative difficulties to the practitioner and postoperative difficulties to the patient. Many devices, for instance, involve a ring or “halo” member disposed about an affected area to provide support to pins for fixating bone matter. Such components, however effective, are relatively bulky and create difficulty for the physician to insert the pins and for the patient to move independently.
These ring or halo fixation devices are often used, for example, by orthopedic surgeons and podiatrists in the treatment of foot injuries and maladies. Some injuries or conditions involving the foot or ankle require that these devices be applied to the bones of the foot (e.g., calcaneus, tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges) and the lower leg bones (e.g., tibia and fibula). In such circumstances, pins may be inserted into both the foot and lower leg bones, in order to secure the fixation device. Currently available external bone fixation systems, however, have limited rotational ability for a given pin, which is exacerbated by the complex and varied placement pins used for different patients with different anatomies and injuries.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have improved external bone fixation devices, systems and methods. Ideally, an improved external bone fixation system would be relatively simpler than currently available systems, for example having fewer components and/or being less bulky and cumbersome for the physician and the patient. Also ideally, the improved system would allow for easier, simpler and more secure connections between the external fixation components and one or more bone pins connecting the system to the patient's bone(s), including improved rotational ability about the pin(s). At least some of these objectives will be addressed by the embodiments described in this application.